In order to participate in wireless telecommunications more easily while driving, many drivers have endured considerable expense in terms of time, money and effort, to have a hands-free car kit professionally installed in their vehicles. The primary advantage to the hands-free car kit is that users can carry on a conversation without having to hold a mobile handset to their ear. This frees up the hand that otherwise would have been holding the handset to perform other tasks, such as driving the car. The hands-free car kit may even provide other advantages such as superior reception and sound quality as compared to the handset alone.
In a typical usage scenario, the user dials a phone number on their mobile handset to place a call, or receives a call from another user. The user places the handset into a special cradle which has been customized for physically holding that handset and for providing electrical connections to a microphone, speakers and possibly an antenna, as may be associated with the hands-free car kit. In many cases, the cradle and related electrical connections are adapted to only one handset model or a small number of closely related handsets. The very limited number of phones that a hands-free car kit can work with becomes a problem when the user desires to change to a new or different mobile phone handset. The user may want to change their handset because it offers better features, is associated with a different wireless service provider desired by the user or for any other reason.
Newer phones have historically been smaller and differently shaped than existing phones, again giving rise to incompatibility with previously installed hands-free car kits. Other concurrently offered mobile handsets tend to have different physical and electrical characteristics. Previously installed hands-free car kits can be replaced with newer or different hands-free car kits associated with a replacement handset. Unfortunately, replacement of the existing hands-free car kit would involve considerable expense in terms of time, money and effort, not only to install the replacement hands-free car kit, but to remove the existing hands-free car kit. It would be desirable to be able to reduce the time, money and/or effort associated with replacing a previously installed hands-free car kit when the user replaces the handset matching the existing hands-free car kit with a newer or different handset that is substantially incompatible the existing hands-free car kit.
In the drawings, the same reference numbers identify identical or substantially similar elements or acts. To easily identify the discussion of any particular element or act, the most significant digit or digits in a reference number refer to the Figure number in which that element is first introduced, e.g., element 102 is first introduced and discussed with respect to FIG. 1.
Note that the headings provided herein are for convenience and do not necessarily affect the scope or interpretation of the invention.